Adapter for toilet paper roll holders



1955 F. B. MONTGOMERY ADAPTER FOR TOILET PAPER ROLL HOLDER Filed Feb. 19. 1951 V R 6 M Wm E Z M m d r 5 4 q. MM 5.

Fia- 4 wr t United States PatentO ADAPTER 'FOR TOILET PAPER ROLL'HOLDERS Frances .B. Montgomery, Coshocton, Ohio ApplicationFebruary 19, 1951,-'Serial No. 211,766

This invention relates to an improved device for use in connection with a roll of toilet paper when mounted in the usual manner.

.-It is .of course common practice .to mount a roll of toilet paper upon a holder so as to permit unwinding of the .same in a free manner by simply pulling the end of the paper; and in the act of .unrolling the paper, there is i the danger of the roll over-running with the result that the paper will be wasted. a

I am aware of previous devices for preventing such over-running but, so far as I am aware, none of them has proved sufiiciently practical from the standpoints of cost and operation to prove a practical success.

The object of my present invention, therefore, is to provide a practical device for use with such a toilet paper roll holder, that will prevent such over-running and will hence serve to prevent such waste of the paper.

Another object is to provide such a device of such simple structure and yet of such dependable operation that it can be manufactured and sold at a popular price and may prove a practical success.

Other objects will appear from the following description and claims when considered together with the accompanying drawing.

Fig. l is a perspective view of an assembly in which my present improved device is included;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged front view of the same with part broken away in order to show more clearly the structure and arrangement of my improvement;

Fig. 3 is a view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate in perspective my present improvement and the conventional roller of the holding means for the roll of paper, respectively.

It is to be understood that the present form of disclosure is merely for the purpose of illustration and that there might be devised various modifications thereof without departing from the spirit of my invention as herein set forth and claimed.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing in detail, my present device consists of a hollow annular onepiece body member 1 that is made of resilient material, as for instance rubber or plastic, and which has the integrally formed circumferentially spaced radially extending inner and outer ribs or fins 2 and 3. This unitary device may be identified as an adapter which may be applied at each end of the conventional roller R of the supporting means and the conventional roll of toilet paper P. The roll P is here illustrated as having an inner tubular core C upon which the paper is wound and which is intended to be mounted upon the usual roller R which, in turn, is mounted upon the fixed bracket members B at the two ends thereof. These brackets may be of various forms.

This unitary device, in each instance, is intended to be inserted between the outer surface of the roller R and the inner surface of the core C; the outwardly extending ribs or fins 2 being adapted to engage the inner surface of the core C, and the inwardly extending ribs or fins 3 being adapted to engage the roller R. These ribs or fins 2 and 3 will be of such resilient nature and may be of such length radially that they may adapt themselves to any variation in the radial spacing between the roller R and the core C; and, if so desired, these ribs or fins may be readily trimmed so as to more accurately adapt them to such space in any given case or to have the roll of paper P turn upon the adapter in the event that the adapter fits tightly between the core C and the roller R which also 2,699,903 l atented Jan. 18, 1955 "ice .fits tightly upon its supporting brackets B. This device may adapt itself quite .readilyto different designs of rollers 'R and may compensate for some vanation 1n the 'dlameter of the core C. .Also, the fins or ribs 3 may com- 6 pensate for variation in the size of the roller Rand may bend over so as to adjust .themselves to :any such variation, and .may serve also to compensate :for variation in the style of .the supporting brackets B.

'In the event that .the roller R in any given .case be so mounted upon its supporting brackets B .that there .is suflicient frictional engagement of the same therewith to permit turning but to prevent over-runningof the roller R, then :it .may be :sufiicient .for the present adapter to merely have engagement between the roller R and the core C. In such .a case, the elfect of my present adapter will be to permit .the unrolling .of the .roll of ;paper P with its .core C bodily with the roller R but with only the movement of the .roller'R upon its supporting brackets. Moreover, if the .roller K were so firmly engaged between its end bracket members '13 .as :to beheld thereby against any rotary movement, .the present adapter may ,permit sufficient frictional engagement and'reduced freedom of movement between the same and the core C and the roller R to serve as a snubbing means for permitting the paper roll P to be unwound only to the extent of the pull upon the end of the paper and without any overrunning of the'roll of paper.

In those installations in which there may be excessive freedom of movement between the roller R and its brackets B, either one or both of my adapters may be so positioned axially as to have frictional engagement at their outer ends with the bracket or brackets B so as to produce the desired snubbing effect or drag for preventing over-running of the roll P. Or, in some installations, the bracket or brackets B may be bent inwardly so as to obtain the desired frictional engagement with the adapter or adapters. In fact, this adapter may be positionedvin such firm engagement with the bracket B as to prevent the roller R itself from rotating at all or to hold it substantially stationary. In such a case, the friction or drag will be between the adapter or adapters and the core C with the same result, namely the prevention of over-running of the roll P and wasting of paper.

My present adapter may be of suflicient length to extend substantially inwardly from each end of the roll P so as to afford a means of dependable engagement between the roll P and the roller R and also to permit outward extension of the same as may be required for engagement with the brackets B in the manner above explained. The adapters at the two ends of the present assembly may be of duplicate form and they are reversible and interchangeable since each of them is of the same form throughout its entire extent. Also, these adapters are readily applied and may be as readily removed and there is nothing to get out of order. They are attachable by means of frictional engagement alone and without requiring the aid of any other means of attaching the same or for holding the same in assembly and they are adaptable to varying sizes of rolls and rollers, as above explained. This device is of simple form and can be manufactured and sold at a popular price.

While, as above explained, there may be movement between only the roll of paper and the adapter, or between the roll of paper and adapter on the one hand and the roller on the other hand, or between the roll of paper, adapter and roller on the one hand and the bracket on the other hand, yet it is to be understood that the adapter may engage the core and the roller and also the bracket in such manner that there may be some relative movement between the roll of paper, adapter, roller and bracket all at the same time and of such aggregate snubbing effect as to permit the roll of paper to be unwound but without over-running. The amount of movement between these several elements depends upon the original or adjusted condition between the roller and its bracket and also upon the adjustment of the adapter, as above explained.

The practical advantages resulting from my present adapter will no doubt readily suggest themselves to those who are familiar with the art to which this invention relates.

What I claim is: v

1. In a device of the class described, a rotatably mounted roller, a roll of paper or the like having a hollow .core mounted about said roller, and an annular elastic member of substantially uniformdiameter throughout its entire length arranged in direct yieldable frictional engagement between said roller and the inner surface of said core, said elastic member being permanently free of compression lengthwise thereof so as to maintain its elastic nature and yieldable frictional engagement at all times when in assembly and including integral elastic projections upon the outer surface thereof of suitable radial extent for operative engagement between said roller and core so as to permit snubbed rotative movement of said roll.

2. In a device of the class described, a rotatably mounted roller, 9. roll of paper or the like having a hollow core mounted about said roller, and an annular elastic member of substantially uniform diameter throughout its entire length arranged in direct yieldable frictional engagement between said roller and the inner surface of said core, said elastic member being permanently free of compression lengthwise thereof so as to maintain its elastic nature and yieldable frictional engagement at all times when in assembly and including integral elastic projections upon the inner surface thereof I of suitable radial extent for operative engagement between said roller and core so as to permit snubbed rotative movement of said roll.

3. In a device of the class described, a rotatably mounted roller, a roll of paper or the like having a hollow core mounted about said roller, and an annular elastic member of substantially uniform diameter throughout its entire length arranged in direct yieldable frictional engagement between said roller and the inner surface of said core, said elastic member being permanently free of compression lengthwise thereof so as to maintain its elastic nature and yieldable frictional engagement at all times when in assembly and including integral elastic projections upon the inner and outer surfaces thereof of suitable radial extent for operative engagement between said roller and core so as to permit snubbed rotative movement of said roll.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 416,842 Johnson Dec. 10, 1889 737,407 Hirsch Aug. 25, 1903 1,557,700 Jaderlund Oct. 20, 1925 2,066,659 Templeton et a1. Ian. 5, 1937 Sele 

